Its apex might be
likened to a point. In fact, in his boyhood, before he had been named
Beauty by his fellows, he had been called "Pinhead."
Backward, from the apex, his head slanted down to his neck and forward it
slanted uncompromisingly to meet a low and remarkably wide forehead.
Beginning here, as though regretting her parsimony, Nature had spread his
features with a lavish hand. His eyes were large, and between them was
the distance of two eyes. His face, in relation to the rest of him, was
prodigious. In order to discover the necessary area, Nature had given
him an enormous prognathous jaw. It was wide and heavy, and protruded
outward and down until it seemed to rest on his chest. Possibly this
appearance was due to the weariness of the slender neck, unable properly
to support so great a burden.
This jaw gave the impression of ferocious determination. But something
lacked. Perhaps it was from excess. Perhaps the jaw was too large. At
any rate, it was a lie. Beauty Smith was known far and wide as the
weakest of weak-kneed and snivelling cowards. To complete his
description, his teeth were large and yellow, while the two eye-teeth,
larger than their fellows, showed under his lean lips like fangs. His
eyes were yellow and muddy, as though Nature had run short on pigments
and squeezed together the dregs of all her tubes.
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